Current academic literature falsely assumes that an authoritarian regime can solely transition into a democracy, other type of autocracy or a similar autocracy. This paper shows that there can be a...Show moreCurrent academic literature falsely assumes that an authoritarian regime can solely transition into a democracy, other type of autocracy or a similar autocracy. This paper shows that there can be a fourth alternative: state failure. This paper conceptualises state failure in Westphalian terms, namely when there is an absence of internal and external sovereignty and the state apparatus fails to provide essential services. The paper hence focuses on possible explanations of state failure in autocratic regimes. Specifically, the paper focuses on personalism as a predictor for state failure, which must be understood as the degree to which an autocratic leader forms the regime to their personal demands. The argument of this paper, consequently, follows that personalism is detrimental to the state’s institutions, as these institutions are formed to solely function under the regime’s current leader. Additionally, the paper theorised that this effect would be stronger in regimes where regime change was imposed, as these regimes would be especially ill prepared for the sudden change in regime. Through a binomial logistic regression, this paper has found evidence that higher personalism indeed does lead to a higher probability of state failure, but has found no evidence to support the second claim, as the size of the effect of personalism on state failure seems to decrease when only analysing those regimes which experienced imposed regime change.Show less
De scheiding van kerk en staat; voor de meeste Nederlanders is dit het normaalste van de wereld: een seculiere staat en een aparte onafhankelijke kerk. Toch is er nog steeds veel discussie over de...Show moreDe scheiding van kerk en staat; voor de meeste Nederlanders is dit het normaalste van de wereld: een seculiere staat en een aparte onafhankelijke kerk. Toch is er nog steeds veel discussie over de scheiding van kerk en staat in Nederland (Addy de Jong, 2016, Anne Gooren 2019). Ook internationaal is er veel aandacht voor de scheiding van kerk en staat (James Lankford, Russell Moore, 2018; Hana M. Ryman and J. Mark Alcorn, The First Amendment Encyclopedia; Neal Hardin, 2019; James C. Kennedy, NWO) En zo richt de blik van de internationale gemeenschap zich ook vaak op landen waar de scheiding van kerk en staat vaak veel minder is dan in hun eigen omgeving. In het boek Religion and Politics in South Asia bespreken verschillende auteurs hoe religie en politiek in Zuid-Azië elkaar beïnvloeden en door elkaar heen zijn gaan lopen. Een ander land, waaraan echter meer aandacht besteed mag worden, is Rusland. De Russisch orthodoxe kerk (ROK) is een oud instituut en heeft al eeuwen een grote rol gespeeld in de Russische samenleving. Sinds de grondwet van 1993 is Rusland officieel een seculiere staat geworden, maar er zijn sterke signalen, dat Rusland niet zo seculier is al het lijkt. Dit onderzoek zal de vraag beantwoorden: Hoe gebruikt de Russische staat het instituut van de Russische orthodoxe kerk voor binnenlandbeleid? Uit een analyse van toespraken en uitspraken in de media blijkt dat de Russische staat en de ROK graag met elkaar samenwerken en verder gaan dan een samenwerking tussen de staat en een sociaal instituut.Show less
This paper studies the effects of glocalization on the inter-Asian cultural media exchange within East Asia. Through the case study of the Japanese animated series called "Noblesse", this paper...Show moreThis paper studies the effects of glocalization on the inter-Asian cultural media exchange within East Asia. Through the case study of the Japanese animated series called "Noblesse", this paper argues that with glocalization and cultural exchange also comes the neglect or replacement of the culture of origin, often resulting in an unequal cultural exchange. In the case of "Noblesse", originally a Korean Webtoon series created in South-Korea by South-Koreans, most of the South-Korean aspects of the story has been replaced by Japanese cultural references in its Japanese animated adaptation. This paper discusses the workings of this inter-Asian cultural exchange and argues how globalization, and in extension glocalization, affect inter-Asian transnational cultural media exchange. In addition, using the case study of "Noblesse", the contextual discursive approach, and the notion of glocalization, this paper aims to answer the question why cultural references have been replaced and what role the Asian animation industry and (global) audience of Japanese animation and Korean Webtoon play in the process of inter-Asian cultural exchange and how they affect it.Show less
This paper examines the role of clientelism in Indonesia before the political transition in 1998 from dictatorship to democracy. Consequently, It draws on two case studies, one centering around the...Show moreThis paper examines the role of clientelism in Indonesia before the political transition in 1998 from dictatorship to democracy. Consequently, It draws on two case studies, one centering around the sectarian violence in Maluku in 1999, and the other centering around the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election, in order to examine the role of clientelism in the post-1998 period.Show less
This thesis studies the conceptualization of malaria in three cultural traditions: Hamar and Swahili, two indigenous East-African languages, and Western biomedicine. It will demonstrate that ideas...Show moreThis thesis studies the conceptualization of malaria in three cultural traditions: Hamar and Swahili, two indigenous East-African languages, and Western biomedicine. It will demonstrate that ideas on malaria vary significantly between these three cultures: in both Hamar and Swahili, malaria is included in a more general category of febrile illnesses, which becomes clear from the linguistic terms and constructions which are used to express ‘malaria’. In biomedicine, malaria is regarded as a potentially life-threatening disease which requires immediate treatment in hospital. If it progresses into severe or cerebral malaria, patients may show symptoms such as convulsions. This symptom is not related to malaria in many African cultures, but it is instead often categorized in a domain of spiritual illnesses and as such, requires different treatment, according to their traditional indigenous practices. An attempt will be made to clarify the Hamar, Swahili, and biomedical conceptualization of malaria from a linguistic point of view. This is done by investigating how malaria or febrile illness in general as well as related symptoms are expressed in Hamar and Swahili. For the biomedical perspective, it will not only be examined how malaria is conceptualized, but also the way in which traditional indigenous medical knowledge is considered. Moreover, an important aim of this thesis is to make a proposal of how to bring the different views together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and cooperation, in order to contribute to the global malaria struggle.Show less
Veel Joodse overlevenden van de Holocaust kozen er na de oorlog voor om te emigreren. Het merendeel vertrok naar Israël, daarna waren de Verenigde Staten en Canada de populairste bestemmingen. Ze...Show moreVeel Joodse overlevenden van de Holocaust kozen er na de oorlog voor om te emigreren. Het merendeel vertrok naar Israël, daarna waren de Verenigde Staten en Canada de populairste bestemmingen. Ze verlieten hun geboorteland en trokken elk met hun eigen oorlogservaringen, achtergrond en verwachtingen de oceaan over. Waarom wilden zij niet langer in Nederland blijven? En waarom vertrokken zij naar de Verenigde Staten of Canada en niet naar een ander land? De vraag die in dit onderzoek centraal staat is: waarom emigreerden Nederlandse overlevenden van de Holocaust tussen mei 1945 en 1960 naar de Verenigde Staten of Canada?Show less